It was a rarity that I really stopped and smelled the roses. I wasn’t an in-the-moment person. I was always thinking about the future. What was next, the always moving goalpost? But for the first time in a long time, I really considered the picture the three of us made as we exited the lift into the main lobby. East and I with our dark hair, Ben with his shocking blond. Our perfectly tailored bespoke suits, shoes with the kind of polish that could blind someone. Topped off with a big-dick swagger that, at the very least, I had. I didn’t know about the other two.

  There were several women who stopped and gawked. Several men, too. We did make a picture.

  We arrived right on time at the restaurant with our private seating, and we looked like the men who owned the joint. Which we were. I wonder what that scared, eleven-year-old boy who was being dropped off at boarding school by his mother would think now. He would think that he’d hit the jackpot.

  I had everything I was probably ever going to need. Actual family, a woman I loved. I didn’t need much else. When all of this was done, I was going to take Emma on an extended vacation. Give her the honeymoon she actually deserved. Hell, give her the wedding she deserved. I had set out to do everything I wanted. I just had this one last loose end.

  When Lord Wilcox walked in with Drew and Lord Kingston, East signaled to Sebastian, Lucas, and Jessa upstairs. They had their thirty-minute countdown. Hands were shaken, and perfunctory greetings were made. When everyone was seated again, Lord Wilcox leaned forward. “I have to say, I’m very confused that you wanted to meet. My understanding was that you like to do things differently.”

  This part was Ben’s show. He was the Director Prime. But sometimes Ben was so nonchalant. He grinned wickedly. I knew what that look meant, but they didn’t. They thought it meant he was carefree and an idiot. That he could be taken advantage of, but I knew that Ben could be as icy cold as his Viking ancestors.

  “Let’s not beat around the bush, Lord Wilcox, Lord Kingston. I’m well aware that there’s a group of gentlemen who seek to unseat me and put someone else in as Director Prime despite the fact that I was voted in unanimously. By yourselves as well.”

  Lord Kingston showed nothing in his expression. Wilcox lifted a brow. “Where have you heard this?”

  Of course, he was absolutely looking at his son. Drew just shrugged. “I know you expected me to be loyal to my family. But you just miscalculated who I think of as family."

  Wilcox leaned forward. “You have nothing.”

  Ben shrugged. “We have bylaws. If you’re going to make a power play for the king, don’t miss. Now, we could do the whole thing where I threaten you and you threaten us, but I'll walk you through how this will be bad for you. So tell us, what is it that you want?”

  Wilcox glanced at Kingston and then back at Ben. “A seat at the fucking table. You are an unknown. We respected your father for years. And you’ve ousted the Elite of more unsavory elements. Those that sought to destroy us. You’ve done the work. But you want to make changes, too many changes. Life in the Elite isn’t made by quick, impulsive decisions. It’s done slowly through discussion. You can’t come in and change everything overnight.”

  Ben sat back. “On the contrary. I am Director Prime for the next ten years, like it or not, and your little cabal is an act of outright treason. Now that I’ve been made aware and you’ve fully confirmed, I can deal with you.” Ben shrugged. “We could do it like that. But at the end of the day, we don’t want to split the Elite anymore. We have to remember that we are a team, all of us. And the organization has functioned successfully for so long through compromise, through common purpose, through—“

  Sebastian, Lucas, and Jessa strolled out of the lift right on cue. It didn’t even look like they were on a mission going somewhere. And then Jessa turned and saw us and waved.

  Right on cue, East waved back. Catching Wilcox’s eye for a moment, East grinned, as did Lord Kingston. East waved them over and stood as if to speak to them privately.

  While everyone knew Jessa was on our operations team, they didn’t know the level of closeness we all held to Lucas and Sebastian and the whole lot. I had to keep a smirk off my face as East and Lucas hugged, clapping each other on the back. Wilcox couldn’t help it, his gaze kept drifting over. Lord Kingston was hiding his excitement better, but I watched him angle his body in that direction.

  Very deliberately, East pointed at the lot of us. And Sebastian did what Sebastian did well, he turned on the charisma to level ten and beamed a smile as he nodded a greeting. Ben was still chatting and then pretended to finally notice them. “Oh, you’ll have to excuse us. Some friends are staying in town, and we need to make sure they’re well situated. Just one moment.”

  And then he stopped and hesitated as if he didn’t know they were acquainted with his famous ‘guests.’ “Actually, since they’re here, Sebastian, Lucas, Jessa, please come over.” Ben made introductions.

  I could practically see Wilcox creaming himself. So fucking easy.

  Sebastian smiled affably, shook everyone’s hands, and did what he needed to do. Wilcox stumbled over his words, and Drew just rolled his eyes at his father. “Your Royal Highnesses, I’m sorry. It’s been a moment since I had to do protocol training. Can you forgive me?”

  Lord Kingston was even worse. He actually leaned down and kissed Jessa’s hand. Thankfully, Roone wasn’t around to growl at him. Lucas, letting the American in him show, shooed him over so that he could just sit down.

  Lords Wilcox and Kingston looked like they were going to pass out. Like a couple of teenage girls with their favorite boy bands in town.

  Sebastian shook his head. “Lucas, we’re not staying. They’re having a meeting.”

  Wilcox looked like he wanted to argue, but Ben’s gaze was sharp. “Yes, you’ll have to forgive us. We’ll see you later though. Dinner tonight at the house.”

  Sebastian smiled. “Yes, Penny’s been dying to see the changes Livy’s made to it.”

  This was all just for Wilcox and Kingston because obviously Sebastian was staying at Ben’s house. None of them needed to know that. And then our three royal guests were gone, and East sat back down.

  Ben countered as if there was no interruption. "Any attempts to unseat me with votes of no confidence, attempts to push me out, attempts to block any changes I want, will cease now, or I will put in for excommunication. I could’ve just done that since I already had the proof, but I know you two are reasonable men. I’d rather have allies than enemies, you see.”

  Lord Wilcox’s eyes went wide. “You wouldn’t excommunicate? That hasn’t been done in a century."

  “No it hasn’t. But any threat to my seat makes it an option. Besides, the option you would like as your new Director Prime, well, he has some problems of his own, doesn’t he? You don’t want a murderer on the seat.”

  Lord Kingston stuttered. “Just wait a damn minute. Francis Middleton is not a murderer.”

  Ben smirked. “Are you sure about that? The death of Toby Varma notwithstanding, there’s the small matter of the teacher at Eton ten years ago. And we know all of you had a hand in that coverup. So, what do we say? Do we have a deal? Everyone fall in line?”

  Wilcox nodded. “The royals, they were for us, weren’t they?”

  Ben smirked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Wilcox nodded. “Fair enough. You have our loyalty.”

  Ben flashed a grin that was all teeth. “Excellent. Any indication of dissent will be met swiftly. Obviously, I’ll communicate to the Five that we have an arrangement. I would stress maybe you convince your compatriots to fall in line as well. Except for Lord Edgerton and Lord Middleton of course. They will meet with a different outcome.”

  Lord Wilcox spared a glance to his son. “You knew this was going to happen?”

  Drew shrugged. "This is where the chips are falling. Francis Middleton is dangerous. You don’t like change? You’re going to have a real fucking problem when everything he’s done comes out.”

  His father glowered at Ben. “You know about the teacher.”

  We all nodded. “We have our suspicions. We don’t have any proof.”

  Lord Kingston glanced around and finally leaned forward. “You’ll get more information at the Middleton mansion. You won’t find the documents anywhere else. He’s had several hospital stays. He had several psychotherapists quit. One or two vanished. A couple others were paid off. You want to find the files and proof, they’ll be there.”

  Ben sat back. “Well, if I had known all it would take for you to comply was access to royalty, we could’ve done this a lot sooner.”

  When they were dismissed, the four of us sat back. “So, which one of us is going to break in to the Middleton mansion?”

  East chuckled. “You get three guesses as to how Lucas is going to respond to that.”

  Ben did his best childish expression with clapping. “It’ll look something like that.”

  Meanwhile, I watched the door as the two men who held our futures in their hands walked away. “You’re not really going to let them get away with this, are you?”

  Ben shook his head. “Hell, no. We just need them in our pocket long enough to catch Middleton. And then I’m excommunicating them so fast their heads will spin.”

  I nodded, glad for probably the hundredth time that Ben Covington was on my team and not someone else’s.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Bridge

  “Right? So what are we stealing?” Lucas asked.

  Bryna rolled her eyes. “Lucas, relax. Maybe just this once, your thieving skills are not what’s needed here.”

  I winced. “Actually Bryna, that’s exactly why I need Lucas."

  Bryna threw up her hands. “Oh for fuck’s sake.”

  Lucas grinned cheekily. “Babes, you see, they know my unique skill set.”

  Bryna smirked. “That’s not your unique skill set.”

  Lucas beamed a smile while I shuddered.

  Roone coughed. “Okay, both of you, I don’t need to know all that. Please God, do not tell me how much you like to watch Lucas wank.”

  Bryna coughed a laugh. "Stop it, Roone.”

  “You’re the one who started making shagging eyes at him. Goddamn, I need to wash my eyeballs.”

  “Guys, please.”

  Lucas grinned. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’re with you. What are we stealing? Where is it?”

  “All right, from the information we’ve cracked on the drive, we know that apparently big brother had a hospital stay. We don’t know where, and we don’t know who the treating doctor was. So the only place we can think of where those records would be is in the Middleton mansion.”

  Lucas nodded. “What are we talking about? City high rise? I’ll need schematics and—“

  I shook my head. “Nope. We’re talking somewhere else. Middleton didn’t spend much time here in the city. His parents lived in Mayfair. From what East and Telly can tell, that’s not where he spent the majority of his time. Thanks to what we’ve discovered, his mother likely didn’t want to spend much time with him. And his “father” obviously knew who his biological father was. Their place is out in the country. Interestingly, near my grandfather’s house.”

  Bryna’s gaze softened. “I’m sorry, Bridge, this must all be quite shocking and jarring for you.”

  I gave her a nod of thanks. "Not ideal finding out your brother’s potentially a serial killer.”

  I chewed my bottom lip. Hospital records were what we needed. I had to find out what he’d been treated for and where he’d been treated. I didn’t want to risk breaking into a hospital for records.

  Lucas nodded. “Sure, sounds easy. How much time do we have?”

  I smiled sheepishly. "Tomorrow. East already loaded schematics onto your tablets."

  Bryna stared at me. “Are you mad? That's not enough planning time.”

  "We don't have the luxury of time. Don't worry, I'll return Lucas unharmed.”

  Bryna shook her head. “Oh no, I’m coming too.”

  Lucas and Roone exchanged glances. "Babes, you don't have to—"

  “Were you thinking I wasn’t going in?” She lifted a brow at him.

  I could see where this argument was going to go. They could fight it out on their own.

  “I’ll be in the van. East will be on comms so he can get you access to anything you need. These are the tablets, and these are the decryptors that will get you inside. The Middletons are in the city right now. We’ve had our lads there watching. No movement except for the caretakers, but they live in their own cottage far from the mansion."

  Lucas nodded and shifted gears.

  “Bryna, you can be in the van with me. But if you want to go in, can you handle the smaller office right there?” I pointed to the corner closest to the road. In case something went wrong, she'd have the fastest egress. That would be ideal.

  She sighed. “Of course, I’m going inside."

  Lucas and Roone exchanged another glance. Lucas tried to interpret. “Love, maybe this time you should stay back.”

  She lifted a brow. “Excuse me? You go, I go. Or no one goes.”

  He pressed his lips together as his gaze narrowed on her. “Now is the time where you assert we have to do this together?”

  She grinned. “Actually, I’ve been saying that for months.”

  He sighed. “Fine.” He turned to me. “You have eyes on her at all times, you hear me?”

  I lifted my brows and scowled at him. “She’s family. I wouldn’t put her at risk.”

  I handed everyone their comms, did a comm check with East online. One of these days, all of this would be unnecessary. One day soon, we were all going to be able to walk away from this. Well, perhaps not Lucas. Lucas seemed like he was having a grand time.

  Bridge

  The next night, we were parked behind the massive trees with a clear view to the front corner of the Middleton mansion where Bryna would be going in through the window. I tapped my comm. “All right, East, do your thing.”

  I could hear him crunching on something. “Sorry mate. Already working on it. Just give me the all clear.” There was more crunching.

  I gave Lucas the signal. They knew where they were going. Bryna was surprisingly quick as she jumped out of the van and sprinted straight to the side window.

  More crunching in my ear. “Oi, East, give us a break.”

  He laughed. “Mate, Nyla’s been trying to cook. I’m starved.”

  Bryna chuckled. “I’m gonna tell.”

  East’s panicked voice came over the line. "You will do no such thing. She is a badass Interpol agent. Fucking sexy as hell and gorgeous, might I add. She doesn’t need to be able to cook.”

  I laughed at that. “What are you eating?”

  He laughed. “The crisps from the bottom of your desk.”

  I frowned. “Fuck. Those are mine in case of emergency. Every goddamn Dubai meeting we have goes on for four hours.”

  He chuckled. “Well, I didn’t have anything in my office.”

  Roone and Lucas were arguing over something. Roone’s voice was clear. “I’ll take the big one on the left.”

  Lucas laughed. “That’s what she said.”

  Roone groaned. “Oh, shut it.”

  Lucas laughed again. “No, I’m taking the big one on the left. Please, who’s the expert here?”

  Roone scoffed. “Haven't you been caught before?”

  Lucas shook his head. “If I get caught, I get caught on the grifting side of things. But I’ve never actually been put in the clink.”

  Roone chuckled. “The clink? No one says that.”

  “People say it. But of course, you wouldn’t know that because you’re just playing.”

  I could tell the two enjoyed ribbing each other. I was so tense, but they were so at ease. I almost lost it when Bryna put on a pitch-perfect British accent. “Oi. The two of you stop taking the piss out of each other and please steal what we need to so we can go.”

  For the next twenty minutes, I held my breath, binoculars on, motion sensors actively scanning. About two hundred meters from the house, was a steel-lined building, so I couldn’t see bodies or movement. But it looked like a gardening shed. It was on the plans, so I wasn’t too worried, but I kept an eye on it.

  It was Roone who checked in first. “Empty in the main office.”

  Lucas checked in next. “No medical records in the safe room either. But there’s a Picasso in here. A Pollack too. Is that a fucking Monet? Jewels, cash, you know. I've alleviated him of a rather gorgeous ruby.”

  Bryna’s voice was clear. “Jesus Christ, Lucas.”

  “Listen we’re just evening the scales. But otherwise, no paperwork.”

  There was more shuffling from Bryna’s end. “Still looking. I might have something.”

  Roone immediately said. “Roger. Making our way to you.”

  Lucas sounded petulant. “How come she’s always finding stuff.”

  Bryna laughed. “You wish you were me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “All right, everybody focus."

  But then Bryna screamed, and there was a lot of clattering.

  East was in my ear. “What is that? I’ve got nothing on motion.”

  Heat sensors had Bryna in the room with someone else. I was already out of the van and bolting over to the window. I broke it easily, my lungs burning from lack of oxygen. Someone was holding her down and squeezing her neck.

  Fuck.

  I crashed through the window, ignoring the cuts and scrapes. I wasn’t in full tactical gear. I didn’t even have Kevlar on. I just heard her scream and ran.

  The man who had her down, turned over his shoulder and grinned at me.

  Fucking Middleton.

  When he saw it was me, he released her and took off running. He scrambled up and I miscalculated. I thought he was going for the door, but he slipped between the bookcases. “Fuck.”